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Stepping off the plane in New Zealand was such a shock-we really weren't prepared for the freezing cold????Ww spent a few enjoyable days in Chirstchurch trying to adjust and had our reunion with the girls-Laurean and Zoe (who we had been travelling in Ozwith) which was very fun! Thanks to Zoe's counsin kindly lending us her 'beast' of a car to travel round the he South Island we were rapidly transformed to 'flashpackers'. So our roadtrip began, first destination Franz Josef glacier via the very windy Arthur's Pass, our first taste of the amazing scenery, lakes, snowcapped mountains and fields of sheep. So for the first adventure on our agenda-glacier hiking. Once kitted out in a million layers and huge boots with spikes we set off for the base of the glacier-an hours walk just from the car park! The day was spent hiking up and down-climbing stairs that were carved out by the guide using a pick axe!! Further south we came to Fox Glacier and made the insane decision to do a skydive here. After treating ourselves to a meal out (could have been our last!!) we were ready and raring to go the next morning, it was very touch and go as to whether we could jump which did nothing for our nerves! Once at the airfield and fitted with the 'jail' jumpsuits we signed our lives away in a disclaimer and jumped around screaming like 5 year old girls-luckily Nicola decided not to do the jump so kept us girls slightly sane. After a very brief information session we were taking off in a plane so small it only held 4 people! We were treated to a 25 minute scenic flight, the views of mount cook and the glaciers from the plane were amazing-definately lived up to the lonely planet quote of "it's hard to imagine a better place to jump out a plane". In no time we were 12,000ft in the air and the instructor starpped to my back was trying to open the door, much to my dismay but fortunately he just pushed me out and there i was literally hanging out the plane-supposedly smiling for a photo-at this point in my time, i have never been so scared-i could barely breath!! Suddenly we jumped and were freefalling-wow that was the most amazing 50 seconds of my life, such an adrenlaline rush-even once the parachute opened! i have it all on dvd for anyone that wants a good laugh when i return! Next we went down to Wanaka, a lovely ski resort with the coolest cinema ever, with comfy sofas and even a morris minor car inside! Next stop was Te Anau, our base to visit stunning Milford Sound. Next we arrived in adventure capital Queenstown, unfortuantely the weather (hitting -6 in the middle of the day) the many bars and clubs and our funds stopped us doing quite as much as we wanted to but still went to the Remarkables snow peaks and learnt to snowboard! Was a fun day but i was not too succesful and was left very bruised and sore for a few days afterwards. We briefly stopped at lake Tekapo (or 'Takeapoo' as we decided to call it) on our way back to Christchurch and the luxury of proper beds with electric blankets-heaven!! We took a flight up to Auckland in the North Island and picked up an immensely cool 'wicked' van, otherwise known as the scooby doo mystery machine which we drove up to Pahia in the Bay of Islands. Off on our next trip to the very north of NZ taking in 90 mile beach and going sandboarding-literally flying down a massive hill of sand on a board, luckily escaping with no broken bones. Driving scooby down the country to Rotorua, famous for it's volcanic environment we sat in hot spa pools at night with a view over the lake and watched exploding geysers and visited natural hot thermal and mud pools-so amazing! Time for another activity Hydrozorbing, hot water was pumped into a big palctic ball-Nicola and I jumped in and next thing we were pushed down a hill inside, was so funny we couldn't stop laughing and smiling for ages!! Finally to our last stop, Lake Taupo before heading back to Auckland for a crazy last night of drinking and dancing. Am now all set and ready for the heat of Fiji, bring it on!!!!......Only now have 7 weeks left till back in the UK, time is flying!!!
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